Life after Y Combinator, software startup Belvo tells all

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Contxto – Y Combinator’s Demo Day has come and gone. So what’s next for the Latam startups that participated in this coveted accelerator?

For Mexican API platform Belvo, life after YC means full-steam ahead in scaling operations and developing its product.

As the startup recently told Contxto, thanks to the funding it procured from Y Combinator, it will continue focusing on growth. So for what remains of 2020, the startup will center its attention on hiring for its engineering and product development teams so they can help perfect its software for fintechs.

Belvo before YC

Pablo Viguera and Uri Tintore co-founded Belvo less than a year ago, in May 2019. And its first team of engineers were hired two months later.

By October, the startup had launched a basic version of its product for pilot testing with approximately 10 fintechs in Mexico. And as any startup should, Belvo soaked in all the feedback from the test. After which, it launched the first official version of its platform in January of this year.

In this process, Belvo reports it’s had hundreds of software developers sign up for its API solution.

“Developer onboarding and retention is critical for a product like ours,” stated Viguera in written correspondence. “We’re laser focused on building technology for our developer partners that can help them build and grow more engaging products and end-user experiences.”

Rightly so, Belvo has built a platform for software engineers to create fintech apps that can access and interpret their end-user’s data. And because Belvo has developers in mind, its platform hosts all the must haves and nice to haves on their list: a free sandbox, SDKs, plug-and-play modules, and even up to 100 free API requests in Belvo’s production environment.

The works.

And the cherry on top? Its software documentation is top-notch.

The world is your (data-filled) oyster

Graduation day has come for Belvo. And it states that through YC, it’s tapped into a rich network of fintechs and its outlook for the future goes beyond what’s in a bank account.

“Up until now, we’ve focused on Mexico and on accessing data coming from banks, card issuers, and fiscal institutions,” said Viguera. “[But] our vision goes way beyond that. Financial information in Latam is found beyond those sources given low bankatization rates.”

And it’s true, data regarding a person’s financial status isn’t necessarily based on what’s on their bank statement. Sometimes it takes the form of cash at home and only surfaces for covering services bills or through shopping habits. This is the data Belvo also foresees as prime for the fintech picking.

As far as the startup’s team goes, at the moment, Belvo has around 20 people on board. However, it hopes to end 2020 with 35 new hires.

When it comes to expansions, it will remain quite focused on Mexico as it scales. However, by December Belvo also plans to enable its platform in Colombia and Brazil where the fintech scene is also quite hot.

As fintech and open banking regulation continues its slow, but steady rollout in Mexico solutions like Belvo’s can grow exponentially. In the meantime, it’s one-on-one partnerships with banks and fintechs.

Related articles: Tech and startups from Mexico!

-ML